Internal Conflict
by B.M. Gang
Summary: The death of Kaworu Nagisa brings forth a time of tumult for Shinji Ikari... *For those of you who read the beta, get ready for something completely different!


A slight and well dressed man walked quickly through the halls of NERV headquarters. The civilian was surrounded on all sides by security agents from Section Two.  
  
They walked in silence through the dimly-lit halls; the only sound was their foot-steps. They turned the corner and one of the agents turned to his charge.  
  
"The Commander is waiting inside." The agent said and the man nodded as the door opened before him.  
  
The man walked in slowly, trying not to make a sound, as if any noise would get him killed. He stood in the doorway and gazed across the impressively large room to the desk that was set deep in the room. There sat the most powerful man in the world. He was the world's savior, the man in charge of the defense of the planet.  
  
"Come in, Mr. Yamamoto." Commander Ikari ordered, and Jiro Yamamoto jumped into action, walking to the Commander's desk. He looked down to find there was not a chair. He swallowed, and then looked up at the Commander.  
  
"Commander Ikari, I am here to present to you the construction plans for Toky-"  
  
"I know why you are here Mr. Yamamoto. Your plans are not what I am worried about."  
  
"Yes sir." Jiro replied in a defeated tone of voice. He felt like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.  
  
"How many men will be working on this project?"  
  
"Approximately 3,500 from all around Japan."  
  
"How long do you expect it to take?"  
  
"Well Commander Ikari, as our plans state we hope to be fin-"  
  
"No, Mr. Yamamoto. How long will you and your men take? Not how long you hope to. This is an important military base, with confidential information abounding. I need to know how long my people will be bothered with your people."  
  
Yamamoto stood there in silence. He knew that Ikari had a reputation of being cold, but this was more than he could handle.  
  
"Well, Mr. Yamamoto?"  
  
"Three weeks for residences, schools and other key elements, project completion in six months tops."  
  
"Thank you, Mr. Yamamoto." Sub Commander Kozou Fuyutsuki said quietly. "You are dismissed."  
  
Yamamoto nodded lightly, turning to leave. He stopped, however, and turned back. "Commander Ikari?" He said timidly.  
  
Ikari looked up at him coldly. "Is there something else, Mr. Yamamoto?"  
  
He swallowed hard. "N-never mind." He replied, retreating from the room with great haste. As the door slid shut behind him, Fuyutsuki looked to Ikari.  
  
"The reconstruction of Tokyo 3 bodes well for us."  
  
"Yes professor, but it is only a delay of the inevitable." Commander Ikari replied, standing. "We must accelerate the reconstruction of Unit 00; we will need it for our defense." He walked to the door, flanked by Fuyutsuki.  
  
"How long do you think we have?"  
  
"I don't know, but the attack will come." Ikari replied, walking out of the room.  
  
  
  
Internal Conflict Chapter 1 - New Beginnings By BM Gang  
  
Two weeks had passed since the defeat of the Seventeenth Angel, Kaworu Nagisa, and all seemed to be returning to normalcy in Tokyo-3. The city was alive with new construction, and the workers were progressing at a frantic pace  
  
When night fell, the work stopped. The workers went back to their homes, some back to their wives and children, and spent their nights in peace. However, not all the people of Tokyo-3 were at peace.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In a small apartment just outside of the central block of Tokyo-3, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child and the pilot of Unit 01, slept, or at least he tried to. He was haunted. Haunted by the truth, by the past. Haunted by his childhood, and disturbed by his own actions. Thoughts and images berated Shinji's subconscious, forbidding him the rest that he desired.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Asuka... Rei... Misato... Father... Death... Life... Mother... Second Impact... Eva... Reborn... Mother... Ritsuko... Trapped... Asuka... Love... Hate... Angels... Kaji... NERV... God... Father... Kaworu...  
  
Murder...  
  
Murder...  
  
MURDER!!!  
  
"I thank you, Shinji. I wanted you to take Unit 02 from me. Otherwise with her I might have survived much longer." Kaworu said softly, his body surrounded by the massive armored hand of Evangelion Unit 01.  
  
"Kaworu, but why?" Shinji begged sheepishly. He didn't understand, how could he begin to understand? The one person to show him a shred of joy and of friendship, the one person he opened up to, how could Kaworu betray him?  
  
"It is my destiny to live forever, though my survival will bring final destruction to the human race. However, it is possible for me to be killed, and whether I live or die makes no great difference. In truth, death may be the only absolute freedom there is."  
  
"What are you? Kaworu? I don't understand what you are talking about Kaworu!" Shinji asked through his tears, his heart torn into pieces.  
  
"This is my wish, please destroy me. Otherwise you will be destroyed. Only one life form can be chosen to evade the destruction and seize the future. And you are not the existence that should die. You need the future; it is what you live for. Thank you Shinji, my life was meaningful because of you."  
  
After a few final seconds, Shinji destroyed the only person who had shown him true compassion, and true friendship. Kaworu Nagisa was dead and Shinji was left to pick up the pieces of his life.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Shinji awoke stubbornly at first, but his painful memories forced him into the realm of humanity. He was covered in a cold sweat, his clothes soaked through, his bed sheets twisted about him. He pulled at his sheets, eventually freeing himself and looking about uneasily as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light.  
  
Shinji turned in bed, his feet reaching towards the ground. He leaned over his knees, his head between his legs. He looked up a moment and stared at the door of his room. Standing unsteadily, he set his eyes the door before reaching out for it, sliding it open and moving into the hall. He moved silently through the dark apartment. He crept down the hall, stopping for a moment when he reached Asuka's door.  
  
Asuka. It seemed like forever since she walked that hall. A small lifetime without her insults, without her jabs, without her anger. She had been in a coma for nearly four weeks. Without Asuka there, insulting him and antagonizing him, his life seemed boring and empty. He shuffled past her door, stopping as he reached Misato's.  
  
Misato. He knew she wasn't home. It was another late shift at NERV HQ. She seemed so busy lately. What more was there to do? The Angels were gone, and still she was busy. Perhaps she was filling her life, trying to take up the emptiness in her soul left by the death of Kaji.  
  
Shinji even gave a look to the small refrigerator that had been Pen Pen's home. He was still living with the Horaki family, and they had yet to return to the city, but were expected shortly.  
  
Shinji walked past Pen Pen's refrigerator, shrugging indifferently as he reached into the cupboard to get a glass. He pulled down a plain mug and turned on the water. It ran for a few seconds, Shinji testing the temperature with his hand before filling the glass. Once it was filled he turned off the water and sat down at the table.  
  
As he sat, the memories struck him again. Not just of Kaworu and Asuka, not of Misato and Pen Pen, or of the people from class 2-A. Suddenly, he could only think of Rei Ayanami. Ayanami, the sweet girl who just didn't smile, the blue-haired siren that haunted him the most.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Thank you for saving my life." Shinji said, happy to see Rei alive.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"You saved me." Shinji continued, a puzzled look on his face, "By sacrificing Unit 00."  
  
"Oh, did I save you?" Rei replied coldly.  
  
"Don't you remember?"  
  
"I. I just don't know," Rei replied, her voice soft and void of emotion, her gaze bolted in front of her. "I think I am the third."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"So this is the core of dummy plug?" Misato interrogated Ritsuko, her gaze heavy, her pistol raised.  
  
"This is where we produce the components." Ritsuko replied coldly, picking up a controller and pushing a button on it.  
  
The room lit up. The area that surrounded the three was a giant tank that wrapped around them on three sides. The room was bathed in an eerie golden- orange light from the tank of LCL. Inside the tank was a ghastly sight.  
  
"Oh my god, it's Rei!" Shinji cried out in terror, his gaze falling on the clones of Rei. They gazed at him eerily upon hearing their name.  
  
"They're all Rei; you mean to tell me the dummy plugs are-" Misato stammered.  
  
"Uh-huh, these are the cores of the dummy plugs; these are what make the system work." Ritsuko replied indifferently, a hint of lunacy entering her voice.  
  
"Who are they?" Misato replied, her voice quivering.  
  
"These? These are empty vessels, nothing but spare parts." Ritsuko replied, staring at Misato, "Spare Reis." She continued, laughing lightly, "Mankind found a God, and man, in his folly, made the God his toy. For that arrogance, mankind was punished." Ritsuko continued, her words filled with anger and passion. She had finally been pushed too far. "That happened fifteen years ago; and the God that man found was lost." She paused for a moment, her face contorting into a perverse grin, and then she continued, her voice becoming more and more desperate.  
  
"But man continued to try and resurrect the God. And from that God, Adam, man tried to make a man who was like a God himself. And that," She paused, looking over to Misato, "Was Eva."  
  
"What?" Misato asked angrily, shaken by what she thought she heard.  
  
"Evas are human?" Shinji asked, his heart sinking as it all became clear.  
  
"Yes, inside the shell of Eva is a human soul," Ritsuko replied, "But the only vessel which can hold a soul is Rei. These things are empty husks. They have no souls, no right to live." At that, Ritsuko hit another button on her controller, and the LCL bubbled, the pressure increasing, the heat building. The LCL went from golden yellow to blood red as the Rei clones dissolved into the LCL.  
  
"The room of Guaf is empty." Ritsuko said coldly. The room was filled with a horrible, mind-numbing sound. The Rei clones, falling apart at the edges, were laughing. Misato gasped, raising her gun and taking aim at Ritsuko, "Stop! Do you know what you're doing?"  
  
"Yes. I know. I'm destroying them!" Ritsuko replied, her eyes glossed over, having finally gone over the edge, "These aren't human!" she shouted, "Just things with human forms! And even so, I lost to these things.to these soulless dolls, I couldn't win. I could've suffered any humiliation, endured any torture, but he had already chosen.  
  
"God I am a fool!" she panted out, her anger subsiding to depression and self-loathing, "Like mother like daughter, fools to the end. If you want to kill me, go ahead and do it, I welcome death!"  
  
"If that's what you want, you are a fool," Misato replied as Ritsuko collapsed before her. Crying uncontrollably.  
  
Through all this, Shinji stood, staring at the two women before him. But their words had washed away from him. All he could think of was Rei. Not the Reis in the tanks, not the Rei he had encountered at the hospital, but his Rei. The Rei he had talked to, the Rei who had helped him and who piloted Unit 00. The Rei who had sacrificed herself to save him. Nothing could be as it was.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Shinji pondered the events of that day in Terminal Dogma. His heartbeat slowing. He sipped his water and wiped the sweat from his brow. His world, the world he thought he knew, had been shattered like a pane of glass and Shinji was left alone to pick up the pieces.  
  
Alone in the dark.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Jiro Yamamoto stood on the train station platform in silence. It was a rare break from his work on the reconstruction of Tokyo-3; an afternoon off to receive his family at the train station.  
  
The two weeks had flown by. Already his crews had reconstructed much of the residences around Tokyo-3, and were ahead of schedule with the infrastructure around those residences. The Commander would be pleased.  
  
The Commander. Their meeting had haunted him ever since. He was so cold, so disjointed, so impersonal. What it must be like to be the most important person in the world, the man with the power to protect it, and perhaps, to destroy it?  
  
Above all, the one thing that stuck in his head was the question that was never asked. From the very beginning he had hoped to ask the Commander about his sister, who had worked for NERV years earlier and who died mysteriously in an accident. The family had always wondered about what had happened, how she had died, and why there was a shroud of secrecy surrounding it.  
  
It wasn't simply for himself that he needed to know. It was for his entire family. They had gone through so much with the death of her husband who was with the Katsuragi Expedition, leaving his wife to raise their unborn child on her own. She had been a wonderful mother until her untimely death, and now her son was his responsibility.  
  
Jiro was rocked from his thoughts by the screeching of breaks against the train tracks. He looked up to see a train pulling into the station. "The Train Arriving on track four is a passenger train arriving from Nagano. All riders please step back behind the yellow line until the train has come to a complete stop."  
  
Jiro looked up at the train as it pulled into the station. It just so happened that as he looked up, he caught the eye of his youngest daughter, Megumi, who was gazing out the window happily. She smiled and started jumping up and down as she saw her loving father, who jogged after the train as it slowed and finally stopped.  
  
As the train stopped, Megumi darted away from the window. Jiro moved to the nearest door and waited. The door slid open and the steward stepped out. Before the stairs were extended, Megumi dove out of the door and into her Father's arms.  
  
"Daddy!" She yelled happily as she knocked Jiro back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I've missed you a lot Daddy!" She continued as her father held her away from him, looking her over.  
  
"I think you've grown Meg-chan." Jiro said lovingly, lowering his daughter to the ground and looking her over. She was the spitting image of his sister when she was that age.  
  
"Really Daddy?" She asked, her green eyes sparkling. She bit her lower lip and smiled before leaping back into her father's arms. He kissed her cheek softly and put her down again.  
  
"Where is everyone else?" Jiro asked as her crouched down beside his daughter.  
  
"Umm," Megumi replied, before shrugging her shoulders, "I dunno."  
  
"Uncle Jiro!" A voice called from over at the train. Jiro turned to see his nephew and adopted son Tetsuo walking down the steps and out of the train. Tetsuo was a relatively normal kid, all things considered. He was smart, funny, and very level headed. He smiled as he lumbered toward his uncle, his arms full of luggage.  
  
Jiro walked over to him and relieved him of a bag or two. "How've you been Tetsuo?" He asked as he put down the bags he had taken.  
  
"Oh, alright. The kids from school met us at the train station to see us off." He said softly, apparently deeply affected by the bittersweet memory. "I'm gonna miss them."  
  
"I know, but you'll meet new friends here." Jiro replied as he reached out and gave his nephew a tight hug. "Where's your Aunt?"  
  
"I'm right here." Haruko Yamamoto chimed in as she and Natsuko walked towards the three of them. She reached out and embraced her husband, kissing him softly on the cheek. "I missed you." She whispered lightly in his ear.  
  
"Me too you." He whispered in return before releasing the tight embrace. "And how have you been Natsuko?" Jiro asked his oldest daughter as she joined the group.  
  
"Fine." She replied shortly, walking past them and towards the kiosk behind them.  
  
"What's her problem?" Jiro asked as he turned back to the rest of his family.  
  
"She's mad." Megumi replied, shaking her head the way that only an eight- year-old can.  
  
"She's upset over the move." Tetsuo elaborated. "I think she had a boyfriend in Nagano that she didn't want to leave."  
  
"I did not!" Natsuko screamed as she turned back to her family. She walked back, staring a hole through Tetsuo. He backed up slowly, but that only caused her to speed up, until she was close enough to slap him across the face.  
  
"Natsuko!" Haruko yelled as Natsuko made contact. She turned quickly, but couldn't help but smile as both Tetsuo and Jiro started laughing contagiously.  
  
"It's not funny!" Natsuko stated as her father hugged her tightly.  
  
"We're only teasing." He replied, kissing her on the forehead. "Now come on, let's go home."  
  
* * * * * Slowly, Shinji walked down the road to the train station, like a prisoner walking to the gallows. Today was the first day of school after the destruction of Unit 00, and he didn't even know why he was going. After all that had happened, it seemed so pointless.  
  
He walked in silence, his gaze lowered to the ground, unable, or unwilling, to look ahead. It didn't worry him. The third child had made the trek from his home to school hundreds of times. He could make that walk in his sleep. He practically was. His mind was far from his walk to school.  
  
As he walked, Shinji couldn't get over the futility of school. It mattered not to him. His memories, like a waking nightmare, haunted him with every step. Every moment he lived, every breath he took, was a moment that was not his, it was like someone else's breath.  
  
All around Shinji, the reconstruction continued. The coordination of the workers and there machinery was like a ballet; precise and coordinated, maybe even beautiful. It was able to distract Shinji, if only for a moment from his own pain. He stopped and looked around watching the city being reborn out of the wasteland it had become.  
  
But it didn't matter. None of it mattered. To Shinji, this was nothing but a false world. It was not his world; it was merely the world that he saved. For him it was like a living hell, a nightmare that he could never hope to wake up from.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey Shinji!" A familiar voice called across the open quad. Shinji looked up to find his friend and fellow stooge Kensuke Aida approaching him.  
  
"Hi, Kensuke." Shinji replied in a low, muted voice. He ran over to him and slapped his back, then pulled on him lightly before starting to walk towards the school.  
  
"So what was the final battle like?" Kensuke asked excitedly as they entered the school. Shinji stopped dead in his tracks. Kensuke continued on a few steps before realizing that he had left Shinji at the door. "Is something wrong Shinji?"  
  
Shinji shook his head and mustered a weak smile. "No, it's just been a tough few weeks." He replied weakly, catching up to Kensuke. Seeing Kensuke after so long was good for Shinji. It was like opening a door and letting the fresh air in.  
  
"I'll bet I just wish I had been here for the end of it all!" Kensuke replied, oblivious to the pain in Shinji's heart, and Shinji knew it.  
  
And strangely, it made him feel that much better. As upset with himself as he had been for so long, he took an odd satisfaction in Kensuke's ignorance. The good guys had won. The average person in Tokyo-3 would never know what had really happened. They were completely oblivious. The good guys won, and that was all that mattered.  
  
*****  
  
Shinji moved through the unfamiliar halls of the new school slowly. It was a near duplicate of the old school. The only difference he could see was that everything was less worn. The lockers were new, free of the scars that continuous use had left on their predecessors. The windows were clean, shining like a bright new day.  
  
Slowly, he approached the door to Class 2-A. As Shinji walked into the classroom, he almost felt like he was 'home,' that he was 'safe' from all that had troubled him in the last few months. And for the first time, Shinji found himself smiling.  
  
"Good morning Ikari." A familiar voice called from its usual position; fourth desk, second row. Shinji looked up to see the straight-laced Class- Rep gazing at him with a slight smile on her face. It was just as much a relief for Hikari to be back in school as it had become for Shinji.  
  
"G- Good morning Class Rep, how are you?" Shinji asked, somewhat surprised to see Hikari there. From what he and Misato had heard, the Horaki family (along with Pen Pen) wasn't arriving for another few weeks.  
  
"I'm fine Shinji, and you?" She asked lightly, her tone a little less official, a little friendlier.  
  
"Umm, I'm good." He replied looking down, and then looked back up. "I thought your family wasn't getting in for a few more weeks?"  
  
"Well, with all the new students coming to the city, and the new school and all, I needed to come back, because of my responsibility as Class Rep." She said with an air of confidence.  
  
"Always on top of everything." A familiar voice called from the doorway. Shinji and Hikari both turned quickly to see Touji Suzahara standing in the doorway, leaning lightly on a cane. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  
  
"Suzahara." Hikari said softly, her voice fading as Touji limped into the room. He labored greatly, becoming acclimated to his new prosthetic leg. "I mean. Welcome back Mr. Suzahara." Hikari stumbled through, trying to regain her composure.  
  
Shinji, on the other hand, lost his composure completely. Once again he was forced to relive the pain of his memories. He had been responsible for Touji's injuries, the injuries that had turned him from a talented athlete to this. "Touji. I'm sorry." He said softly, on the verge of tears.  
  
"Lighten up Shinji." Touji replied, hobbling over to Shinji. "You and I both know it wasn't your fault. So relax. Pull up a seat, pull out your computer, and have some fun." He continued, slapping Shinji's shoulder. He was as strong as ever.  
  
"Hey, whatcha talking about?" A voice yelled from across the room as Kensuke, the third stooge, entered.  
  
"Oh, just about how Shinji blames himself for everything." Touji replied as Ken approached. "You know, same old same old." All three friends started laughing, though Shinji was more than a bit embarrassed.  
  
Hikari shook her head as she watched the three boys horsing around like the old days. She wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried that the three stooges were together again.  
  
"Excuse me?" A male voice perked up from behind Hikari. She turned around to find one of the new students standing behind her.  
  
"Yes?" She asked the boy with a smile. He was your average student, about six feet tall with short black hair and big brown eyes.  
  
"Can you direct me to the Class Rep?" He asked embarrassedly, feeling a little out of place in his new school.  
  
Hikari smiled lightly. "I'm the Class Rep." She replied, extending her hand. "I'm Hikari Horaki, and you are?"  
  
"Tetsuo Yamamoto." The boy replied, taking her hand and smiling bashfully.  
  
"Oh, you are Mr. Yamamoto's son, correct?" She replied with a smile. She had gotten the background for most of the new students and knew of his relation to the man in charge of rebuilding Tokyo-3.  
  
"Well, he's my uncle really. I was adopted after my mother died." He replied, looking down a bit.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Hikari replied, putting her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.  
  
He looked up smiling lightly. "Don't worry about it Ms. Horaki, I don't." He replied jovially, a wide smile on his face.  
  
"Well, is there anything you need or anything that you would like to know about the school or the class?" Hikari asked, taking on her role as Class Rep.  
  
"Well, what am I going to need to know to get through this class?" Tetsuo asked, taking out a small pad.  
  
"Do you know about Second Impact?" Kensuke's voice asked as he and the stooges butted their way into the conversation.  
  
"All too well." Tetsuo replied softly.  
  
"Then you'll do fine." Touji said, limping up beside him.  
  
"Mr. Yamamoto, these are the three stooges, Kensuke Aida, Touji Suzahara, and Shinji Ikari." Hikari said, gesturing to the three semi-annoyed stooges.  
  
"Hi everybody." Tetsuo said, bowing lightly to each of the boys. The boys all returned the bow with a deep formal bow, as if mocking the new student. They then returned to their cluster of seats. "The three stooges?"  
  
Hikari shook her head, "Those three are just foolish children." The moment the words left her mouth, Hikari doubted them. So many people had been hurt by the events of the last year. How could she say something about any of the people who had been through so much? Touji being crushed in Unit 03, Shinji's general pain and anguish caused by piloting his Eva. And then there was Asuka.  
  
"Class rep?" Tetsuo asked, pulling Hikari away from her thoughts.  
  
"Y-yes?" Hikari stammered in reply.  
  
"Is everything alright?"  
  
"Yes, everything is fine." she replied, gazing past Tetsuo, watching Touji limp around the room. "Is there anything else?"  
  
"My seat assignment please, ma'am."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Hikari said, looking to Tetsuo, then to her seating chart. "You're seat is on the end, over there by the window."  
  
Tetsuo nodded and bowed lightly to Hikari. "Thank you Class Rep." He slowly walked over to the window, looking out on the construction beyond.  
  
*****  
  
After class, Hikari slowly walked up the stairs towards the roof of the school. If she knew the stooges, that's where they'd be. The door at the top was open, allowing for her to move onto the roof silently.  
  
"Are you okay Touji?" Kensuke asked as a tired Touji limped towards him.  
  
"I'm fine." He replied shortly as he reached the rail.  
  
"Are you sure?" Shinji asked somberly.  
  
"I told you I'm fine!"  
  
"You know, you don't have to come up." Kensuke began before being cut off by Touji's icy glare. "Nevermind."  
  
Hikari crept back into the stairwell, her heart sickened by having to watch Touji struggle. She breathed deeply before remembering why she had gone up to the roof in the first place. She went down two steps then moved back up, making a point of rattling the door to alert the boys of her presence.  
  
"Who's th- oh, it's you Class Rep." Touji said as he turned to the door.  
  
"What brings you up to the top of the world?" Kensuke added, turning to face her.  
  
"I need to talk to Shi- I mean, I need to speak to Ikari." She responded once she regained her composure. The mention of his name finally forced Shinji to turn from his position of watching over the school courtyard.  
  
"M-me?" Shinji responded, gazing across the roof at Hikari. She simply nodded and he walked towards her in response. Touji and Kensuke sniggered at something behind his back, but Shinji continued to walk towards Hikari.  
  
"I. I need to talk to you about something." Hikari finally said, gesturing for Shinji to continue walking to the other side of the building.  
  
"W-what is it?"  
  
"It's about Asuka." Hikari finally said after a long silence. "I mean, she wasn't in the best of shape when we left Tokyo 3, and." Hikari stopped, the look in Shinji's eyes all but told her what had happened.  
  
"Sh. she's in a coma." Shinji said softly, his voice distant. "After you left, she disappeared. then. when they found her, she was unconscious. That was almost two months ago."  
  
Hikari gasped, putting her hand on Shinji's shoulder. "What's wrong with her?"  
  
Shinji shrugged in response. "They don't know."  
  
"Can I go and see her?" There was a long pause.  
  
"I. I don't know. It might be classified or something." Shinji replied, shaking his head.  
  
"Well, how does she look?" Hikari asked, her eyes welling with tears.  
  
Shinji's voice was soft, almost inaudible. "I don't know."  
  
  
  
*****  
  
It was another long day for Major Misato Katsuragi at NERV HQ. She strode through the halls, clipboard in hand, not sure what she would find at the end of her walk. She only knew that Commander Ikari had summoned her, and that she needed to report to his office immediately.  
  
Upon arriving, she took a deep breath before knocking. Meeting with the Commander in his office always was unnerving for her. She knocked on the door lightly.  
  
"Enter." A voice came from within the office. Misato reached for the handle, taking another deep breath before pushing the door open.  
  
She stepped into the dark office cautiously. It wasn't simply the darkness, but the size of the office. It seemed as though it stretched from one end of NERV to the other, and was filled with no furniture save for a single desk at the other end of the office.  
  
"You wanted to see me sir?" Misato asked, walking towards the commander. Standing behind him was Sub-Commander Kozou Fuyutsuki.  
  
"Yes, Major Katsuragi, we did." She nodded then proceeded to walk to the other end of the room, before standing silently at attention.  
  
"We have decided to. release Doctor Akagi." The Commander said coldly, staring at Misato over his folded hands.  
  
"But sir." She stopped her mind racing as to why the renegade doctor would be needed. Only one thought could come to her mind, "The Angels?"  
  
"We have reason to believe that another round of attacks is coming. Miss Ibuki has filled her role admirably, overseeing the regeneration of Unit 00 and so on; however with direct combat anticipated, Dr. Akagi's knowledge and skill are an unfortunate necessity."  
  
"Yes sir." Misato replied, overcome with combined anger and sadness. The Angels, her enemy, had returned. Her mind raced, going over the different scenarios. "When do you anticipate an attack?"  
  
"Soon." Commander Ikari replied, staring up at Misato coldly.  
  
Misato nodded her mind racing about the imminent battle. She thought about troop deployments, the evacuation of the city, and what deployment routes were open for the Evas to get to the surface. Suddenly, she felt a chill go through her.  
  
"How soon do you expect this attack to come?"  
  
"Soon." The Sub-Commander replied.  
  
"There's no way that Unit 00 can be ready for combat anytime soon." Misato thought for a minute. "Wait a minute, you don't mean that-"  
  
"We will use the Third Child and Unit 01." Ikari replied coldly.  
  
"What if he refuses to pilot?" Misato replied quietly. There was a long uncomfortable silence. Ikari stared through the young major, disturbing her greatly.  
  
"Irrelevant." He replied. "Is there anything else?"  
  
"No sir." She replied softly, so soft it was nearly a whisper.  
  
"Then you are dismissed, Major Katsuragi." The Sub-Commander ordered. She turned slowly and walked out of the room.  
  
"Releasing Akagi is a risk. We know that she's. disgruntled, to say the least. How do we know that she will serve our purposes, or even worse, how do we know she won't sabotage the project. SEELE has a powerful effect on the fragile and weak-minded."  
  
"Dr. Akagi is a necessary evil. Her skills are un-paralleled. I will keep her under control."  
  
"I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
***** "The First Reconstruction stage bodes well for Ikari." Resounded the voice of SEELE 01.  
  
"Our bell has been silenced." SEELE 07 replied from across the room. "Ikari is far too smart to allow Akagi to act on our behalf."  
  
"Then we must find a new bell." SEELE 04 answered. "Someone inside, but someone that Ikari would never suspect."  
  
"Who is close enough to Ikari that would not draw suspicion?" SEELE 12 asked.  
  
"We do not need a new spy." SEELE 01 replied in turn, "We need someone who will present us Ikari's head on a silver platter. There is no need for them to be too close, it is simply important that they understand the greater scheme of things."  
  
"But we must be careful. The mistakes of the past cannot be allowed to repeated." SEELE 07 chimed in once again.  
  
"Do not worry." SEELE 01 answered solemnly, "We will not tolerate a repeat of those mistakes. I assure you."  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.  
  
And now for the many many thank yous that need to be tossed in here - The infamous author's notes.  
  
My dear thanks go out to Rommel, Rev'd, Joedoebell, and Alnilam Orionus especially along with the countless others who encouraged me and prodded me along the way. This was very difficult to finish up this chapter, and I hope to expedite the authoring of the future chapters.  
  
Also, I do not own Evangelion or its characters, if I did I wouldn't be writing Fanfiction. 8 ) 


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